Part 2 — A MEMORY
Reading edition
The night walked down the sky With the moon in her hand; By the light of that yellow lantern I saw you stand.
The hair that swept your shoulders Was yellow, too, Your feet as they touched the grasses Shamed the dew.
The Night wore all her jewels, And you wore none, But your gown had the odor of lilies Drenched with sun.
And never was Eve of the Garden Or Mary the Maid More pure than you as you stood there Bold, yet afraid.
And the sleeping birds woke, trembling, And the folded flowers were aware, And my senses were faint with the fragrant Gold of your hair.
And our lips found ways of speaking What words cannot say, Till a hundred nests gave music, And the East was gray.
Frederic Lawrence Knowles [1869-1905]